Friday, April 21, 2017

Random Post About Birds in the Garden

Many types of birds visit the garden every day and it's just fun to watch them do their thing. Sometimes, less fun like when the ravens open up the garbage and pick through it to get clam shells and the like. (Sneaky little buggers at it, too!) I actually enjoy the ravens, I just don't want them in my garbage, so I try to keep the garbage in until garbage day. 

We have a large rabbit population which means raptors often make visits. Here's our local bald eagle up in the tree above the garden. Owls often make an appearance at night, but I have yet to get any pictures of those elusive beasts:


We have Anna's hummingbirds and Rufous hummingbirds. The Anna's hang out all winter, being replaced by the Rufous in the spring. Sometimes, we have both kinds in the summer, but the Anna's seem to like to move off to higher elevations once the temps warm up and the Rufous move in. Below is a newly arrived Rufous this spring:


Here he is at he feeder. Once too many hummers show up, I hang multiple feeders on opposite sides of the house to attempt to minimize the fighting:


Sapsuckers spend quite a bit of time in the garden. So many things for them to eat:


We also have Pileated Woodpeckers that spend quite a bit of time in the garden. Last year, we had an entire family hang out on 2 of the snags in our yard - 2 adults and 3 juveniles. I thought about taking the snags down at one point until I realized all the critters they hosted including squirrels, woodpeckers, sapsuckers, flickers, chickadees, and many others. Since the snags aren't in any danger of hitting any kind of building or structure, they are staying and will continue to host all kinds of wildlife. 


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